Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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Researchers of Khamai Foundation and Liberty University have discovered a new species of coffee snake endemic to the cloud forests of northwestern Ecuador.

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Owls are fascinating creatures that can fly silently through some of the quietest places. Their wings make no noise while flying, enabling them to accurately locate their prey using their exceptional hearing ability while remaining undetected. This unique ability depends on many factors and has long been a hot research subject.

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PFAS, commonly known as "forever chemicals," are a group of man-made substances that have been used in various industries since the 1940s due to their resistance to heat, water, and oil.

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A breakthrough technology has been developed that enables the production of green hydrogen in a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner, bringing us closer to a carbon-neutral society by replacing expensive precious metal catalysts.

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Argonne received GAIN vouchers to work with ARC Clean Technology, Inc., SHINE Technologies, Global Nuclear Fuels - Americas and Energy Northwest.

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A research team including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York will head to Peru to study the link between ancient agricultural practices, climate shift and war.

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Air conditioning doesn't just cool the air – it can also reduce the risk of harm from wildfire smoke, new research led by the University of Technology Sydney suggests.

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The escalating frequency and intensity of extreme climate events, such as severe droughts and floods, pose significant challenges worldwide.

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Climate change has increased the demand for renewable energy sources, driving hydropower development.

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Even if global warming were to stop completely, the volume of ice in the European Alps would fall by 34% by 2050. If the trend observed over the last 20 years continues at the same rate, however, almost half the volume of ice will be lost as has been demonstrated by scientists from the University of Lausanne (UNIL, Switzerland) in a new international study.

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Interest in forest restoration has increased in recent years, both on the part of companies and financial markets and in academia and government.

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Coal is an abundant resource in the United States that has, unfortunately, contributed to climate change through its use as a fossil fuel.

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Epidermal microorganisms, vital in nutrient exchange between hosts and environments, have now been shown to play a key role in host toxicity through community changes.

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An international team of marine biologists including Oliver Shipley, PhD, of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University, has discovered a unique isopod, a form of crustacean, that has been formally identified as a new species of the genus Booralana from the deep waters of The Bahamas. The news is published in the journal Zootaxa.

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In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming, the U.S. has enacted several ambitious federal laws, such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed in 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021.

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As global warming speeds up, meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement has become crucial. Cities, especially in countries like China, play a major role in reducing carbon emissions.

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Radioactive wastewater is an unavoidable byproduct of nuclear operations, containing harmful radionuclides like cesium, which pose serious health risks.

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Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory studied how insect communities responded to newly established habitats on solar energy facilities built on retired agricultural land. At the end of five years, all habitat and biodiversity metrics increased.

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A new computational framework created by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers is accelerating their understanding of who’s in, who’s out, who’s hot and who’s not in the soil microbiome, where fungi often act as bodyguards for plants, keeping friends close and foes at bay.

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University of Idaho will lead a modeling project to enhance water budget predictions in the contiguous United States after being awarded a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 104g National Competitive Grant. This is the first time a scientist in Idaho has won the grant in the past two decades.

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Though natural fertilizers from treated sewage sludge provide crops with nutrients, they bring along microplastics too. Recent research shows these plastics are easily spread by even slight winds.

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7000 forever chemicals (PFAS) and human PPARa binding properties predicted using AI technology.

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Humans store water in huge metal towers and deep concrete reservoirs. But nature’s water storage is much more scenic – the snowpack that tops majestic mountains.

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The ocean is the world’s largest habitat, yet much of its biodiversity is still unknown. A study published in Frontiers in Science marks a significant breakthrough, reporting the largest and most comprehensive database of marine microbes to date – matched with biological function, location, and habitat type.

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Conserving water won’t be enough to restore the depleted Great Salt Lake, the signature Utah landscape whose existence as a functioning ecosystem remains seriously imperiled from low water levels and rising salinity.

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Conserving water won’t be enough to restore the depleted Great Salt Lake, the signature Utah landscape whose existence as a functioning ecosystem remains seriously imperiled from low water levels and rising salinity. Much of the water saved by Utah cities and farms through various conservation measures will have to be allowed to flow into the terminal lake if its levels are to rebound and remain at a safe level, according to Utah’s Great Salt Lake Strike Team. The panel of university and agency experts has released its latest data analysis just ahead of Utah’s upcoming legislative session.

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RUDN University professor strengthened ordinary concrete with epoxy resin. The author was the first to show that in this way it is possible to make concrete 80-100% stronger, taking into account the corrosive influence of an aggressive environment.

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Massive Die-Off of Elephant Seals in Argentina Due to Avian Influenza Is Latest Sign that the Virus Is an Existential Threat to Wildlife.

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In the last century, global economic growth, spurred by globalization and technological advances, led to increased environmental degradation, primarily due to greenhouse gases from economic activities.

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Researchers uncover factors in urban areas that affect diversity in insects and spiders. The study — which also turned up dozens of previously unknown species — could help ensure the health of these crucial ecosystem contributors.

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China's rapid urbanization has escalated air pollution, notably nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which impacts health and the environment.

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Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC), key for ecological studies, has historically been mapped at coarse resolutions. Recent high-resolution satellite data have increased the demand for finer FVC products.

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Some invasive plants can form persistent banks of seeds that remain under the soil for years, and this makes their eradication practically impossible.

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Cities play a key role in climate change and biodiversity and are one of the most recognizable features of the Anthropocene. They also accelerate innovation and shape social networks, while perpetuating and intensifying inequalities.

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A multi-national team of scientists (China, USA, New Zealand, Italy, and France) analyze the temperature of the Earth annually.

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Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Columbia University have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas, into carbon nanofibers, materials with a wide range of unique properties and many potential long-term uses.

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New research has uncovered internationally significant rock art sites in Arnhem Land were far from random and instead “chosen” for the critical vantage points they provided.

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Free nitrous acid (FNA) is known for its capacity to inhibit various microorganisms in wastewater systems, significantly benefiting treatment process management.

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For the first time, scientists have succeeded in the stabilisation and direct imaging of small clusters of noble gas atoms at room temperature. This achievement opens up exciting possibilities for fundamental research in condensed matter physics and applications in quantum information technology.